Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Oh my handlebars...

I also must give HUGE kudo's to NW Motor Scooters for getting me the parts needed with a minimum of fuss. As with all special order parts there's always some drama, but the parts department came through in a huge way!

I must be honest, before beginning, that I was very very worried that would run into problems and not be able to complete this for whatever reason. At the same time was fairly confident though still had that gnawing feeling would have issues. Turned out was fairly easy with one minor issue that resolved shortly after.

The problem:

Handlebar somewhat messed up.

The solution:

Virgin handlebar, with hole front and center

The task:

Is to get handlebar mounted with a minimum of fuss.

The dilemma:

How exactly is this done.....

As mentioned in the preamble, really would like to say I had it under control and knew exactly what I was doing, but really had no clue. Doing mechanical work, in general, isn't rocket science, and if I can fix a computer I can fix a scooter, right? Right? RIGHT? Say yes....

Looking at this afterword writing up this post, the replacement was fairly straight forward. This is how I did it, not how it's meant to be done according to Aprilia.

Step 1 is to remove the instrument cluster. This was already done for me during the act of it falling off, so this is fairly easy.

All tupperware removed

Step 2 is to remove all the plastic and stuff surrounding the handlebar. This is easier said than done as there are screws hidden in all sorts of weird places.. Just like a lot of other things in life, a little tugging here, a little prodding there, a little give and take, and voila, it opens up and yours to take.

Old handlebar remove

Step 3 is to remove the handlebar from the center post. This was easily accomplished as there s only one bolt holding it in place (if remember properly). Reason this is step 3 is didn't want to unhook an of the cabling, the brakes, all that other stuff, from ends of the handlebars. Not wanting to do this caused me more work here, but I feel it saved me some effort down the road. The picture shows the handlebar removed. The post at bottom of the picture is the one where the handlebar slides onto, and there is a bolt that goes through the center of that to keep it all in one spot. A good picture of the hole in middle of the handlebar is shown above under The Solution.

Broken Handlebar

Step 4 had to do with removal of the brake lever and control clusters on end of the handlebar. I didn't get any really good pictures of this process but it was generally fairly involved. It was more involved than I had anticipated. The broken handle was fairly easy, and it was the twisty side. Like with the plastic, the handlebar ends had screws and such hidden in what seemed like odd places and seemingly hidden from view. Once one was uncovered another one presented itself as an obstacle, and this is true for both side, left and right.

Once all the bolts and stuff were removed, with a little rocking and sliding and that happy stuff, the ends slid off without too much effort. Think, on the left hand side, it was a little effort to get off but couldn't have been all that much as was able to reuse the rubber handle part.

Starting reassembly

Step 5 was to put the handlebar ends on the new assembly. This was a little tricky and required some finesse and a little bit of hope and prayer. The tricky part was to add both ends on without having to disconnect any of the cabling and brake lines. It was very taught at times, but moving the handlebar, and the wires/cables/hoses around was able to get it done without breaking anything!

Secured in place

After all components were secured to the handlebar, Step 6 came along and that is to secure the handlebar to the center shaft which connects to the front wheel. There are two bolts, instead of the one I mentioned earlier, and they are nylon hex nuts if memory serves me. Believe I had ordered new bolts and nuts as part of the whole handlebar assembly... Think anyways but sometimes memory gets the best of me....

A breather

Taking a breather and admiring all my handiwork. I am missing some nuts and inserts and stuff here and there mainly related to the windscreen, which I scrapped. There are a total of four rubber inserts with metal threads that the windshield supports screw into. This is what those two bars on either side are for. On the bar, at each end, will see a larger hole. The inserts slide into these holes. and machine screws go in there to hold windscreen in place.

Tupperware back on, mostly

Step 7 just happened to be putting all the tupperware stuff back on. This included all the front pieces, the wind guards in front of the handlebars, the whole enchilada. The hole which we see is where the instrument cluster snaps into place. This was much easier to put together, until that awkward moment near the end where have screws left over after think all is done.

While I don't have a final picture of the instrument cluster in place, here is an almost final picture of the front with most of the tupperware in place. The only two things that aren't in the picture is the full windscreen which had and a cover which goes over the screws holding the windscreen in place. I chose to get rid of the windscreen as it was all scratched up and hard to see through at night.

Mostly done!

Aftermath

With any major undertaking such as this, there's always one or two things that fall through and don't work as intended. Such is the case with this and it the issue had to do with an antenna that's part of the instrument cluster. This antenna detects the computer chip within the key. Presence of a known chip allows the scooter to be started. Without said chip, something in the innards disables the start button and couple other things to prevent someone from easily starting the scooter.

I don't have pictures of this, and it took some time to find a solution that worked, but was able to use some Goop, goop up the two wires and slide the rubber sleeve over it. This has held it in place so far. TI can't find the tube of Goop, and didn't see it in a quick internet search, but pretty sure it's called Goop, and it works great!

Knock on wood, to this day it works great and replaced it before Christmas sometime, sometime around end of November, beginning of December, 2014.